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Thursday, February 01, 2007

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits

In the 7th to 8th Century BCE

The God of war worshipped by the Ammonites requires a sacrifice to combat chaos and provide victory to his worshippers. The Ammonites, people living east of the Dead Sea, named this god Moloch. The Assyrians named this god Ashur. They fashioned their god from metal, and it was hollow inside. A fire set at the feet of the statue would heat the entire metal structure. Then, an infant wold be placed on the outstretched arms of the statue as a sacrifice. While the infant screamed and cried, the priests would chant and sing to their god. Finally, at the end of the ceremony, a lever would raise the arms of the statue dispatching the infant into the fire.

In 1979

During the Iraq-Iran war, the Ayatollah purchased 500,000 plastic keys from Taiwan. Children as young as six years old were given the gaily colored keys and told that they are the keys to Paradise. The children would then be forced to walk ahead of the Iranian army to act as human triggers for the Iraqi laid land mines. The small stature of the children were a convenient trigger as the explosion usually left little to bury.

January, 2007

The holy day of Ashoura was celebrated by the Muslim world. This is the day that the Islamic saint, Inman Huessein was decapitated. In remembrance, Shite infants, children and adults slash their foreheads three times with razors or knives. While the children undergo this procedure, the adults break out into a chant commemorating the venerated saint. The children are then given juice and cookies to quiet their cries.